Japan's ruling LDP loses majority in snap election

The election results were a blow to Ishiba, who has seen his popularity plummet

(Image credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Japan's longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its governing partner, Komeito, lost their majority in the lower house of parliament in snap elections Sunday, striking a blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The LDP coalition won about 215 seats in the 465-seat House of Representatives, down from 279 seats and far short of the 233 needed for a majority. The LDP still corralled a plurality of seats, but opposition parties, led by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), won 235 seats.

Who said what

"The results so far have been extremely severe, and we take them very seriously," Ishiba said. His decision to call elections right after being chosen as party leader was a "political gamble," Shaimaa Khalil said at the BBC, "and it backfired." Ishiba has seen his popularity plummet as he dropped bold campaign promises and failed to clean up the party's tarnished image.

The results were a "punishment by voters' outrage over the governing party’s extensive financial scandals," but a "change of government is not expected," The Associated Press said. CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda said he will try to lead a coalition government, but the most likely scenario is a weakened LDP-led coalition including the centrist Democratic Party for the People or the conservative Japan Innovation Party.

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What next?

Japan is "heading for a time of political instability," Shimada Yukiko said on Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The first question is whether Ishiba "will survive as prime minister," The New York Times said. If he does not, Japan "might return to the kind of revolving-door leadership" of years past. And "we don't want such trouble again," said Tsuneo Watanabe at Tokyo's Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.